Reserve troops were deployed to fire-ravaged regions across three Australian states on Monday after a torrid weekend that turned swathes of land into smouldering, blackened hellscapes.

The bushfires have now destroyed an area the size of Ireland, according to official figures, and authorities warned the months-long crisis is not over as another heatwave looms.

Firefighters joined by fresh teams from the US and Canada were taking advantage of rainy and cooler conditions to tackle out-of-control blazes ahead of soaring temperatures forecast later this week.

Military teams, in the biggest-ever call up of reserves, fanned out across eastern Australia to help emergency services assess the damage, restore power and deliver supplies of food, water and fuel to cut-off communities.

For the first time in Australian history the government also deployed its medical assistance team -- normally sent to other nations to lend support in the aftermath of their disasters -- to help evacuees.

"There is no room for complacency, especially as we have over 130 fires burning across (New South Wales) state still," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said early Monday.

Almost five million hectares (50,000 square kilometres) have been razed across the state since late September, New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons added.

That took the total amount of land burnt close to eight million hectares -- the size of the island of Ireland or South Carolina.

Twenty-four people have lost their lives so far, with over 1,500 homes damaged.

Two people are missing in New South Wales, the vast nation's most populous state.

- 'Creeping disaster' -

The chair of the newly established Victoria state's bushfire appeal fund, Pat McNamara, said this year's summer bushfire season was a "creeping disaster".

"We're still not even into what we would regard as the peak of the fire season," McNamara told national broadcaster ABC.

"So we've probably got at least another four to five weeks of this sort of weather and we've got to deal with it."

In the usually picturesque southeastern town of Eden, Holly Spence said she spent more than 12 hours defending her family's farm on Saturday, less than a week after saving it on New Year's Eve.

"If we weren't here the spot fires would have taken all our sheds and the house and everything," the 28-year-old told AFP.

"We don't want to go through this for a third time."

Fiona Kennelly, 50, who evacuated with 24 members of her extended family to a motel outside Eden, said she was relieved the easing conditions allowed them to get some respite from the crisis.

"It's good to see daylight at the right time again," she told AFP, adding that the skies had been turning pitch-black in the afternoons.

Authorities were also grappling with the health impacts of heavy smoke engulfing cities and towns in or near fire-hit regions, including the country's second-largest city Melbourne and the national capital Canberra.

In Canberra, some government departments were shut as the city's air quality was once-again ranked the poorest in the world, according to independent online air-quality index monitor Air Visual.

There has been growing anger in Australia about Prime Minister Scott Morrison conservative government's slow response to the deadly climate-fuelled bushfire crisis, with rallies calling for action planned across major cities on Friday.

Australia reels after another day of fire fury
Nowra, Australia (AFP) Jan 5, 2020 - Stunned Australians on Sunday counted the cost from a day of catastrophic bushfires that caused "extensive damage" across swathes of the country and took the death toll from the long-running crisis to 24.

Hundreds of properties were destroyed and one man died trying to save a friend's home in the severe conditions -- among the worst in Australia's deadly bushfire crisis.

But even as Australians tried to regroup, seaside towns were plunged into darkness, ash rained down on rural communities and major cities were again cloaked in smoke on Sunday.

In the state of New South Wales alone, almost 150 fires continued to burn, many out of control, with light rains offering little relief and blazes again touching the suburbs of Sydney.

Everywhere, people struggled to come to grips with a catastrophe that has taken place on a near-continental scale, unfurled over months and altered daily life for millions.

"We're in uncharted territory," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said. "We can't pretend that this is something that we have experienced before. It's not."

Authorities have struggled to keep pace with the severity of the crisis -- which has scorched an area almost the size of Ireland.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the largest military call-up in living memory, mobilising up to 3,000 reservists to assist exhausted volunteer firefighters.

Warships and combat helicopters have already been repurposed to help out with the largest maritime evacuation in Australia since World War II -- moving some of the 4,000 people trapped for days on the foreshore of Mallacoota to safety.

Up the coast, thousands of people remained displaced and many more are weighing an uncertain future.

Noreen Ralston-Birchaw, 75, lost her home in Mogo on New Year's Eve and said she was unsure what to do.

"At this very moment, I don't want to go back and see my house laying burnt on the ground," she told AFP. "I don't want to rebuild there."

Prime Minister Morrison also announced the establishment of a Bushfire Recovery Agency, that will run for two years and help survivors get back on their feet, a signal that the path ahead will be long and difficult.

For tens of thousands of volunteer firefighters, the immediate battle continued, earning them praise from across Australia and around the world.

Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday said she was "deeply saddened" by the fires, and thanked the emergency services "who put their own lives in danger" to help communities.

Celebrities have pledged or raised millions of dollars to support firefighters and fire-affected communities, including American pop star Pink, who tweeted on Saturday that she was donating US$500,000.

Australian actress Nicole Kidman matched that pledge.

"Our family's support, thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the fires all over Australia," she posted on Instagram. "We are donating $500,000 to the Rural Fire Services who are all doing and giving so much right now."

- Easing conditions -

Sunday brought milder conditions including cooler air and some rainfall in New South Wales and neighbouring Victoria state -- where firefighters also battled huge infernos worsened by winds and lightning strikes.

That will give authorities an opportunity to get fires under control and take stock of the damage.

But some communities were still under threat from out-of-control blazes, particularly in and around the town of Eden in New South Wales near the Victorian border.

"Visibility was down to about 50 metres, if that, and we had lots of debris falling out of the sky and a lot of white ash," said John Steele, 73, who was evacuated with his wife from their rural property north of Eden late Saturday.

"The sky is still red," he told AFP. "We're not out of the woods yet."

In Cooma in inland southern New South Wales, the fire crisis turned into a flood disaster when a large tower carrying 4.5 million litres of water swept away cars and filled homes with mud.

"First bushfire and now flood, back-to-back disasters," a shaken resident who asked not to be named told AFP.

Australia's capital Canberra was ranked as the city with the poorest air quality in the world on Sunday by Air Visual, an independent online air quality index monitor, amid a severe haze caused by the fires.

Flights were cancelled, galleries were closed to safeguard public health and a large consignment of facemasks was being brought in.

In some rural areas, police patrolled the streets amid reports of looting and break-ins in bushfire-affected areas.

While bushfires are common in Australia's arid summers, climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons.

Australia counts cost after day of fire fury
Batemans Bay, Australia (AFP) Jan 5, 2020 - Australians on Sunday counted the cost from a day of catastrophic bushfires that caused "extensive damage" across swathes of the country and took the death toll from the long-running crisis to 24.

Hundreds of properties were destroyed and one man died trying to save a friend's home in the severe conditions -- among the worst in Australia's months-long bushfire crisis.

In the country's southeast the skies turned black and ash rained on isolated communities.

"We're in uncharted territory," New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

"We can't pretend that this is something that we have experienced before. It's not," she said.

"Several townships who never ever experienced a threat of bushfire were at threat of being completely wiped out."

The severity of the crisis -- which has seen an area roughly double the size of Belgium burnt -- saw Prime Minister Scott Morrison announce the largest military call-up in living memory, mobilising up to 3,000 reservists to assist exhausted volunteer firefighters.

But in rare public criticism, the New South Wales rural fire service chief said he only found out about the deployment from media reports -- the latest criticism of the prime minister's response to the disaster.

"I was disappointed and frustrated in the middle of one of our worst days with massive dislocation and movement of people," Shane Fitzsimmons said.

"We spent a fair amount of the day yesterday trying to seek clarity."

Fitzsimmons -- whose own father was killed firefighting -- has been the face of the crisis in Australia's most populous state, tearfully informing the public about the death of volunteer firefighters and pinning a medal on one of their toddlers in a haunting image.

Tens of thousands of volunteer firefighters have been hailed in Australia and across the world for their unrelenting battle against the blazes.

Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday sent a message of condolence of the governor-general, her representative in Australia, saying she was "deeply saddened" by the fires, and thanked the emergency services "who put their own lives in danger" to help communities.

Celebrities have pledged or raised millions of dollars to support firefighters and fire-affected communities, including US singer Pink who tweeted Saturday that she was donating US$500,000.

Australian actress Nicole Kidman matched that pledge.

"Our family's support, thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the fires all over Australia," she posted on Instagram. "We are donating $500,000 to the Rural Fire Services who are all doing and giving so much right now."

- Easing conditions -

Sunday brought milder conditions including cooler air and some rainfall in New South Wales and neighbouring Victoria state -- where firefighters also battled huge infernos spurned on by winds and lightning strikes.

That will give authorities opportunity to get fires under control and take stock of the damage.

But some communities were still under threat from out-of-control blazes, particularly in and around the town of Eden in New South Wales near the Victorian border.

"Visibility was down to about 50 metres, if that, and we had lots of debris falling out of the sky and a lot of white ash," John Steele, 73, who was evacuated with his wife from their rural property north of Eden late Saturday, told AFP.

"The sky is still red" he added, "we're not out of the woods yet."

In Cooma in inland southern New South Wales, the fire crisis turned into a flood disaster when a large tower carrying 4.5 million litres of water swept away cars and filled homes with mud.

"First bushfire and now flood, back-to-back disasters," a shaken resident who asked not to be named told AFP.

Australia's capital Canberra was ranked as the city with the poorest air quality in the world on Sunday by Air Visual, an independent online air quality index monitor, amid a severe haze caused by the fires.

Galleries and other buildings were closed safeguard public health.

In some rural areas police patrolled streets amid reports of looting and break-ins in bushfire-affected areas.

While bushfires are common in Australia's arid summers, climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons.

Related Links
Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology

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Military evacuates fire-hit Australian town
Sydney (AFP) Jan 3, 2020
The Australian military has begun the seaborne evacuation of hundreds of people trapped in a fire-ringed southeastern town, as the country braced for yet more catastrophic conditions. A navy landing craft from the HMAS Choules docked in the town of Mallacoota, where residents trapped on the foreshore since New Year's Eve clambered aboard with family, pets and a few belongings. "Around 1,000 people should have been evacuated out of that area by this afternoon," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said ... read more